Top swimmers to compete at UNLV

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000 | 9:18 a.m.

A strong field, led by five swimmers who competed in the 2000 Olympics, will highlight the 17th annual UNLV Winter Invite this weekend at Buchanan Natatorium on the UNLV campus.

Leading the contingent of Olympic swimmers will be medallists Kaitlin Sandeno and Aaron Peirsol, who will be competing for two of the 46 club teams participating in the four-day meet.

Sandeno won the bronze medal in the 800 freestyle at the Sydney Games this summer and also competed in the 400 individual medley and the 200 fly. Sandeno will be swimming for the NGSV club team from California.

Peirsol, who swims for the Nova Aquatics club team, also competed in the 2000 Olympics and won the silver medal in the 200 backstroke.

The participation of UNLV's three Olympians -- Lorena Diaconescu, Jacint Simon and Andrew Livingston -- brings the count of Olympic competitors to five.

"This is a great meet," UNLV head swimming coach Jim Reitz said. "The competition is stellar. We have post-graduates and Olympians in almost every event.

"This format gives us practice in preliminaries and finals for our rookies, freshmen and other swimmers who haven't competed at this level."

This year's UNLV Winter Invite, which runs through Monday, will be the last in which club teams participate. The meet will revert to a college-team format next year.